A letter-of-credit system offered for small business.

Looking to help banks simplify the processing of letter-off-credit applications, a New York-based technology company has introduced a hardware and software combination to be installed at borrowers' offices.

The new system from Management Technologies Inc. is called Touchscreen Letter of Credit. It incorporates a touchsensitive display screen letting users point at images on the screen to run the program, instead of typing commands with a keyboard.

Touchscreen Letter of Credit is Management Technologies' second product using the touchsensitive displays.

The company also markets Viewpoint, a touchscreen-based system for foreign exchange traders.

Target Is Smaller Businesses

With many larger corporate customers already regularly using electronic interfaces for letters of credit, Touchscreen Letter of Credit is targeted to small businesses.

"It bridges the technology gap for executives who may not be full computer proficient and comfortable with keyboarding," said Bill Cameron, general manager at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in Toronto, who is evaluating the product.

Manually filling out a letter-of-credit application can be time-consuming and paper-intensive. Because documents must be refiled with each application a customer makes, the Touchscreen Letter of Credit software stores much of the relevant information and then automates the filing process.

Touchscreen Letter of Credit is microcomputer based and uses a modern connection to the bank's computers.

The Touchscreen product then enables a bank's customer to draft letter of credits, amend them, and check on their fulfillment without the need to talk to employees at the bank.

According to Michael F. Seppi, Management Technologies senior vice president, an application can be filed with as few as seven keystrokes.

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